I am often asked about how I arrive in a place and know what to do to capture the image I want. Here are my suggestions for doing exactly that:
First as soon as you get to the location, just make a record shot, your very first impression of the place.
Then compose a balance between only two values. They could be two different colors, two different textures or two different shades of grey. The edge where they meet creates the balance.
Photograph the LIGHT that falls on the subject. Make the light the key element in your photograph.
Create an image with shadow shapes. Shadows create hard edges. On a hot afternoon in Italy, with the sun almost right overhead, I noticed triangular shadow shapes in a very small alleyway in San Gimignano. Using the shadow shapes created a very effective photograph.
Try visually walking through the image in your viewing screen and see if there is one small area that deserves a full frame. Zoom in or walk over if you can.
When photographing a building or any part of a building, imagine you were the architect. Make a photograph of what you would want people to feel about your building.
Ask people to look right into your lens. That way their eyes will be looking right at the viewer of your photograph. Eye contact brings out a very different and strong emotion. It makes the image very personal because the viewer is relating to a person, not just a photograph.
Find a design in a texture, sand, a wall or the area right at your feet. Everything has a texture.
I believe that all photographs are an interpretation, not simply documentation. The technical controls we use such as focal length, shutter speed or aperture are only part of the equation. Awareness, bringing your other senses into consciousness, is how you connect to a place and this is the most important piece.
You have to not just be a technician, you have to foster the creative artist as well and be able to switch between the two.